DIRECT CURRENT GENERATOR CHARACTERISTIC

Types of Direct Current Generator

1. Shunt Generator
 The field winding is connected in parallel with the armature winding so that the terminal voltage
of the generator will be applied across to it.

at node a:
a By KCL,
Ia=Ish+Il

E=V+IaRa=V+(Ish+Il)(Ra)

Where:
Ia=armature current, ampere
Ish=shunt field current, ampere=V/Rsh
Il=load current, ampere=Pout/V
E=Armature or generated emf, volts
V=terminal voltage, volts
Ra=armature resistance, ohms
2. Series Generator
 The field winding is connected in series with the armature winding so that the terminal voltage
of the generator will be applied across to it.

Since armature is connected in

series with the load:
By KCL,
Ia=Ish=Il

E=V+IaRa=V+IlRa

Where:
Ia=armature current, ampere
Ish=shunt field current, ampere
Il=load current, ampere
E=armature or generated emf,
volts
V=terminal voltage, volts
Ra=armature resistance, ohms
3. Compound Generator
 If the excitation is produced by two field (shunt and series) windings, one connected to the full,
or nearly full, line voltage and the other excited by the line or armature current.
a. Long Shunt Compound Generator
 The generator in which shunt field winding is in parallel with both series field and armature
winding.

a At node a:
By KCL,
Ia=Ise=Ish+Il

E=V+Ia(Ra+Rse)

Where:
Ia=armature current, ampere
Ish=shunt field current, ampere
Il=load current, ampere
E=armature or generated emf, volts
V=terminal voltage, volts
Ra=armature resistance, ohms
Rse= series resistance, ohms
b. Short Shunt Compound Generator
 The shunt field winding is in parallel with the armature and the series field is in series with the
load.
At node a:
By KCL,
Il=Ise
Ia=Il+Ish
a Ish=(V+IlRse)/Rsh

E=V+IaRa+IlRse

Where:
Ia=armature current, ampere
Ish=shunt field current, ampere
Il=load current, ampere
E=armature or generated emf, volts
V=terminal voltage, volts
Ra=armature resistance, ohms
Rsh= shunt field resistance, ohms
 EXAMPLE PROBLEMS
1. An 85-kw, 120 V shunt generator has an armature resistance of 0.23 ohms and shunt field resistance of 120
ohms. Determine the emf generated by the armature.
2. An 65-kw, 130 V series generator has an armature resistance of 0.24 ohms and series field resistance of 120
ohms. Determine the emf generated by the armature.
3. An 8-kw, 130 V long shunt compound generator has an armature resistance of 0.24 ohms, shunt field
resistance of 110 ohms and a series field resistance of 0.03 ohms. Determine the emf generated by the armature
if the brush voltage is 2 V.
4. An 10-kw, 120 V short shunt compound generator has an armature resistance of 0.25 ohms, shunt field
resistance of 120 ohms and a series field resistance of 0.04 ohms. Determine the emf generated by the armature
if the brush voltage is 1.2 V.
5. An 12-kw, 140 V long shunt compound generator has an armature resistance of 0.28 ohms, shunt field
resistance of 120 ohms, series field resistance of 0.035 ohms and diverter resistance of 0.3 ohms. Determine the
emf generated by the armature if the brush voltage is 1.5 V.
6. An 15-kw, 140 V short shunt compound generator has an armature resistance of 0.3 ohms, shunt field
resistance of 130 ohms, series field resistance of 0.045 ohms and interpole resistance of 0.4 ohms . Determine
the emf generated by the armature if the brush voltage is 1.2 V.
7. If the compound generator in problem number 3 is reconnected to short shunt, determine its equivalent emf.
8. If the compound generator in problem number 4 is reconnected to long shunt, determine its equivalent emf.